Jenny Chase (@solar

Jenny Chase

11.8K posts

Jenny Chase

@solar_chase

Solar analyst with BloombergNEF, goose keeper. Author of "Solar Power Finance Without the Jargon". Opinions here are all my own. She/her.

Switzerland

Joined November 2014

Pinned
Jenny Chase
@solar_chase
Oct 20, 2025
2025 updates to this thread are now available on Bluesky and Mastodon. (And the discount code for the book is re-activated until end of November 2025).
Jenny Chase
@solar_chase
Sep 28, 2024
Time to make 2024 updates to my annual “opinions about solar” thread. If you like these, the second edition of my book, Solar Power Finance Without The Jargon, is new this year. A 30% discount code WSQ0437 is valid on publisher website until end of Oct. worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/…
3.8K
Jenny Chase
@solar_chase
May 20, 2024
My family finally became Swiss citizens after a 4-year application process. Photo shows information for our first referendum vote. Since I cannot be refused citizenship now, it is time to say what I *really* think of this country. Thread.
16M
Jenny Chase
@solar_chase
May 20, 2024
Replying to @solar_chase
Some good things about Switzerland: 1. Infrastructure. The rich use public transport, and the Postbus serves even isolated communities. Houses and apartments get built as infill, not sprawl. This is a country that plans 50 years ahead, across the generations.
1.2M
Jenny Chase
@solar_chase
May 20, 2024
Replying to @solar_chase
2. Child-friendliness. It's normal to see 5-year-olds walking alone to school or around the village. Even posh restaurants are quite child-tolerant. 3. Hefty penalties for speeding when driving, often linked to financial circumstances, so the rich pay higher fines.
1.1M
Jenny Chase
@solar_chase
May 20, 2024
Replying to @solar_chase
... Overall, I think Switzerland is a good example of a country that is both rich and low-carbon-emission (aided by abundant hydropower), and is generally both well-run and incredibly democratic. We will take our responsibilities as citizens very seriously.
787K
Jenny Chase
@solar_chase
May 20, 2024
Replying to @solar_chase
Britain's cheese and beer are *much* better than those of Switzerland and it's not even close. Also, British tea may be made of floor sweepings, but at least we pour hot water directly onto it instead of serving as a cup of lukewarm water with a sad teabag on the side.
1.5M
Jenny Chase
@solar_chase
May 20, 2024
Replying to @solar_chase
5. Really serious about democracy - they vote on everything - and seem to be making it work. People do not just vote in their own short-term best interests, and the voter information package is a serious attempt to *inform*.
952K
Jenny Chase
@solar_chase
May 20, 2024
Replying to @solar_chase
Some bad things about Switzerland: low tax rates and high salaries act as a brain drain on surrounding countries (hi). This is how a poor country has become a very rich one in less than a hundred years.
1.5M
Jenny Chase
@solar_chase
May 20, 2024
Replying to @solar_chase
4. Pragmatic approach to problems. For example, mythical national hero is a dude who had a problem with oppression, so he shot the oppressor in the back with a crossbow in an alley. None of your Robin Hood-esque plot-extending scruples or kowtowing to the monarchy here.
990K
Jenny Chase
@solar_chase
May 20, 2024
Replying to @solar_chase
Really the answer to "why am I doing this" is "got a boyfriend, didn't I, and he wouldn't leave his job for me, so I told him we could get geese or I'd leave, so we got geese and had a kid and now we're staying".
1.4M
Jenny Chase
@solar_chase
May 20, 2024
Replying to @solar_chase
Switzerland's neutrality is self-serving (but if no nation was neutral, no nation could host organisations like the Red Cross. And if neutrality is your thing, you cannot make exceptions, otherwise it's not neutrality).
1.2M
Jenny Chase
@solar_chase
May 20, 2024
Replying to @solar_chase
6. Generally, as explained in citizenship class, to be a great Swiss person is to be quietly competent and community-minded. There's some tall poppy syndrome, but a more positive interpretation would be that Swiss success is not conspicuous consumption or attention-seeking.
892K
Jenny Chase
@solar_chase
May 20, 2024
Replying to @solar_chase
The citizenship process (in canton Solothurn) is 25 hours of courses designed to make you think about why you are doing this and prepare you for two exams, and multiple interviews. And also to make you deeply examine what *you* are good for and why a country would want you.
1.4M
Jenny Chase
@solar_chase
May 20, 2024
Replying to @solar_chase
Final notes: - I moved here in 2010, you need 10 years' residency to start citizenship application - Been married to 'the boyfriend' since 2012. He's @BjornHolzhauer and he quite likes Gruyére. - apéro with goslings is 100% shield against hate comments.
385K